Jan 9, 2019

As US Patent Grants Declined in 2018, China's Grew

Invest in research and development or stall. JL

Larry Cady reports in Venture Beat:

The number of U.S. patents granted declined in 2018 after many years of growth and a record-breaking 2017. There was also a decline in published pre-grant applications waiting to be approved by USPTO in 2016 and 2017. China was the only country in the top 10 to show an increase in U.S. patent activity. Foreign countries received about 54% of U.S. patent
grants in 2018, with U.S. companies receiving 46%. "I see it as a
confirmation of the value and importance that foreign firms place on the
U.S. market."The number of U.S. utility patents granted declined in 2018 after many years of growth and a record-breaking 2017. The annual IFI CLAIMS analysis released today also notes that there was a decline in published pre-grant applications waiting to be approved by USPTO in 2016 and 2017. I think most of the 3.5 percent decline in 2018 patent grants can be attributed to this. Since published patent applications increased in 2018, we should expect the dip to be temporary, with the number of grants increasing again in the next year or two.
IBM continued to lead in new utility grants in 2018, as it has for the last 26 years. The company received 9,100 grants in 2018 — a one percent increase from 2017. Samsung is as number 2 with 5,850 U.S. grants. Canon holds the number 3 spot as it did last year; Intel is at number 4, and LG at number 5.

Meanwhile Chinese companies, led by Huawei and BOE Technology, gained ground. In fact, China was the only country in the top 10 to actually show an increase in U.S. patent activity; all other countries, including the U.S., saw declines.
Asia holds the largest share of 2018 U.S. patents after the U.S. at 31 percent, while Europe holds 15 percent. A breakdown by country shows Japan with 16 percent of U.S. grants, South Korea with 6.5 percent, and Germany with 5 percent. Mainland China holds 4 percent or 12,589 patents — up 12 percent over 2017.
A decade ago, in 2008, the U.S. dipped to 49 percent of granted U.S. patents, with other countries collectively taking the majority. Foreign countries received about 54 percent of the total U.S. patent grants in 2018, with U.S. companies receiving 46 percent. You can read into this statistic, but I see it less as a U.S. failing and more as a confirmation of the value and importance that foreign firms place on the U.S. market.
If we zoom out and look at global active patent families, not just those in the U.S. and not just those granted in 2018, Samsung holds the top slot. As of December 31, 2018, Samsung Electronics has 61,608 active patent families, followed by Canon with 34,905 and IBM with 34,376.
Overall, patenting activity, especially in the high-tech areas of computers and telecommunications, remains strong. The automotive sector is also very active as new autonomous vehicle technology continues to develop.
The list of 2018’s top U.S. patent recipients follows below.

2018 Rank

Company

2018 Grants

2017 Grants

1

IBM

9,100

9,043

2

Samsung Electronics

5,850

5,837

3

Canon

3,056

3,285

4

Intel

2,735

3,023

5

LG Electronics

2,474

2,701

6

TSMC

2,465

2,425

7

Microsoft

2,353

2,441

8

Qualcomm

2,300

2,628

9

Apple

2,160

2,229

10

Ford

2,123

1,868

11

Google

2,070

2,457

12

Amazon

2,035

1,963

13

Toyota

1,959

1,932

14

Samsung Display

1,948

2,273

15

Sony

1,688

2,135

16

Huawei

1,680

1,474

17

BOE

1,634

1,413

18

GE

1,597

1,577

19

Hyundai

1,369

1,304

20

Ericsson

1,353

1,552

21

Seiko Epson

1,285

1,406

22

Panasonic

1,254

1,338

23

Boeing

1,227

1,177

24

Robert Bosch

1,136

1,234

25

Mitsubishi

1,106

1,151

26

Toshiba

1,104

1,555

27

GM

1,046

1,066

28

Ricoh

1,043

1,145

29

Fujitsu

1,038

1,538

30

United Technologies

1,011

494

31

Denso

1,003

929

32

AT&T

985

946

33

Honda

926

910

34

Micron Technology

924

802

35

Semiconductor Energy

870

977

36

Siemens

870

939

37

Cisco

848

967

38

Koninklijke Philips

844

905

39

Halliburton Energy

807

738

40

EMC IP Holding Co

801

646

41

SK Hynix

801

942

42

Texas Instruments

785

923

43

Honeywell

749

856

44

Murata

743

566

45

NEC

715

820

46

Toshiba Memory

700

216

47

Oracle

685

753

48

LG Display

681

605

49

Dell

668

623

50

Fujifilm

658

695

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As a Partner and Co-Founder of Predictiv and PredictivAsia, Jon specializes in management performance and organizational effectiveness for both domestic and international clients. He is an editor and author whose works include Invisible Advantage: How Intangilbles are Driving Business Performance.Learn more...